Save Me
by Andi-iRock
Summary: Its been over a month since the Woodbury raid to save Glenn and Maggie, over a month since the group last saw Daryl but the group learns that Daryl has been a hostage for the Governor for all the time. He's broken, scared and not the hunter they once new. Can his new family help put him back together?
1. Open the Gate

**AUTHORS NOTE- Hi guys! So I've been buzzing around with this idea for a while and I finally decided to give it a me a message or review to let me know what you think!**

**Disclaimer- As I type this through tears I must mention I in no way own The Walking Dead. This is true even though I have tried bribing them many times, and yet still, I own nothing...except a restraining order :P**

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The night air was stale and heavy as the Georgian summer ran full force as Glenn lazily paced the catwalk of the guard tower back and forth, keeping watch over the silent prison. There was a time, he remembered, when he use to be on the morning watch, after he and Maggie had woken up and had breakfast together, and said their goodbyes in favor of their daily chores. Now, however, Glenn swallowed the small lump in his throat when he thought about why he had been moved onto night watch. It was because now they were a man down, more specifically, they were a hunter down. Being even one person down meant Rick had to re-strategize everything they did from waking until slumber. Though truth be told no one really slept good anymore since Daryl was no longer with them.

It had been just a little over a month since Daryl had left them in favor of going off with his brother Merle. This was actually the assumption though, because this was also the same time that Maggie and Glenn had been kidnapped by Merle and taken to the Governor in Woodbury. Since no one had actually seen him since he said he would provide cover for the others to escape. They all figured he had caught sight of Merle in all the chaos and the two went their own way. It made sense to them since clearly Merle would never be welcomed at the prison with open arms and Daryl always said Merle was family and to the Dixons family came first, no matter what. Sure the prison survivors struggled almost day to day with meals now, but they worked out that with more frequent and farther runs, they were able to keep their heads above water, if only just barely breaking the surface.

Glenn sighed deeply, scanning the tree line for any sign of an immediate threat, while thinking about their hunter and how the whole group dynamic had changed since his unannounced departure. Leaning back against the wall, and closing his eyes, he let his mind wonder about where the two Dixons brothers were and what they might be doing. Surviving was never really an issue for the two brothers, so while hoping they were safe, well mostly Daryl, Glenn instead thought on about how much Daryl had changed since Merles disappearance in Atlanta, and how he hoped the man he came to call his friend, would not fall back under the shadow of the tyrant.

_***gunfire***_

Glenns eyes snapped open at the sudden, sharp noises ripping open the calm stillness of the night. At first he wasn't sure if he had really heard the noises, or if his mind was just creating a distraction to help keep him from falling asleep on the job. He was about to dismiss the noise until a fresh batch made their way to his ears. Scanning the area for as far as he could see in the night, even with the binoculars, Glenn could not make anything out in the dense Georgia forrest below.

_***gunfire***_

Grabbing his gun from where he had propped it against the railing, and readying his finger on the trigger of his gun, Glenn raced down the stairs to the ground floor. When he opened the door, Glenn ran head on into Rick who had been able to sleep and had been patrolling the fences for any new weak spots when the sudden gunfire began. Letting out a sigh of relief of having to choose to run away from the problem to go alert someone or take the potential foes on alone, Glenn gave a sharp nod to Rick for having already been outside.

The two made their way, with no words, down to the barricade of two overturned cars they had set up in front of the gates. The barricade provided just enough coverage that, if anyone should fire shots from the forrest they would be fully covered, but still held the perfect view of anyone who was coming straight at them. Kneeling close to the cars, Rick and Glenn peeked out on one side as more shots were fired, closer this time but now from different areas. Realization hit that there was more than one shooter spread out in the woods as they all had feared at one time or another. Counting the seconds until more shots were fired, the two men held their breath. One minute, then another. Once again, silence filled the hot Georgia night leaving the men unsettled behind their barricade.

Not daring to move an inch from behind the car, the men continued to wait, just incase someone was trying to wait them out and ambush them once they left the safety of cover. Again, one minute, then another, only this time they could hear twigs snapping parallel to the prison fence, distant at first, but growing in noise as they approached from the east side at a slow but steady pace. They could tell by the noise that their perpetrators would be on them in the next few seconds if they didn't form a plan. Slowly the men split apart and went to opposite sides of the barricade, weapons ready and trained on the spot they could now hear the person coming from.

For Rick it happened in slow motion, for Glenn it was a kick to the stomach, though when asked later, neither man could comprehend what their eyes were actually seeing. With guns trained on the spot, they could now see a silhouette taking form as not one, but two people as suspected. However, one was leaning heavily against the other, the bigger of the two practically dragging the other to keep them from falling over in a heap. More steps, and more features could be identified, but it wasn't until words were spoken that both men registered what they were seeing.

Stepping out from the dense cover of the forrest, the two men could see that Merle was dragging a very unconscious, limp, and bloody Daryl at his side. Moving as fast as he could over the small bridge to the gate opening, Merle only ground out three words.

"Open. The. Gate."

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**So? Sooooo? please let me know what you think of this. Should I continue, should I stick to fly paper, whats up? And don't be shy to let me know what your ****expectations are and where you would like to see the story go. Im always open to new ideas! Ciao!**


	2. I Aint Leaving Him

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**HI AGAIN! WELL I GUESS THE ONLY THING I HAVE TO SAY IS THAT I AM NOT A DOCTOR...I ONLY PRETEND TO BE ONE LOL SO IF YOU NOTICE SOMETHING THAT IS NOT REALLY CORRECT, LET ME KNOW HOW I CAN FIX IT SO THAT IT DOES MAKE SENSE (YES I GOOGLES THINGS, HOPE IT ALL FITS TOGETHER).**

**DISCLAIMER: ONCE AGAIN, I DO NOT OWN THE ACTUAL WALKING DEAD, HOWEVER IM THINK OF INVESTING IN WHAT I CALL "THE STRIDING DECEASED"!**

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Merle hit the gate with such force, it caused Rick and Glenn to back up a step for fear that it would fall over on them and let all of the walkers in.

"You deaf?!" Hollered Merle, using the gate to help him prop Daryl up whose limp head lolled onto his shoulder and then back down again.

Glenn looked to his leader for the answer as to what they should do. He and Merle had history, hell, almost everyone in the prison had some form of negative history with the psycho redneck. Rick looked back at him with uncertain eyes, yes he had Daryl with him, but could he have been the one who did that to Daryl as a ploy to get the Governors men inside?

"'ey! You not see us standin here?! Open the fuckin gate!" Merle slammed the hand that wasn't helping hold Daryl up against the chain link fence making it rattle down halfway the gravel walkway.

Rick shook his head, he knew he couldn't let in the hot headed red neck, not with everything that had happened in the past.

"Nah, jus leave 'im propped right there, we'll get him in." It was a calm statement, hand lazily resting on his gun but it was the words that were not spoken that registered in Merles head.

"_We aint letting you in you sick red neck son of a bitch! You aint worth shit ta this group!" _That's all Merle could hear in his mind as his brothers shallow breathing blew across his chest from where his head now rested.

"I said open the fuckin gate. NOW! You really think 'es gonna let you touch him after everythan thats happened? Where tha hell ya think 'es been all this time?" It was Merles turn to get calm, he knew these people had a doctor, and while he had taken care of Daryl after their daddy would beat them plenty of times, he couldn't tell how bad this beating was, and his brother needed help fast in case it was serious. "I ain't goin nowhere Officer Frienly. Ya really wanna see Daryl die out 'ere?" He knew Rick would never let anything bad happen to his brother if he could help it so digging up his old manipulation habits, he turned them on full force.

"Are you? We said we bring him on in, you on the other hand, we don't want." It was a blunt statement, but with no time to waste as more walkers would be drawn from the gun shots, Rick just wanted to get Daryl inside as soon as possible.

Merle looked lethal but held his tongue for one of the first times in his life. He knew he had to change tactics if he had any hope of getting Rick to let both his brother and himself inside. Letting out a long sigh, and adjusting Daryl once more, Merle looked at Glenn for a different approach.

"I ain't leavin 'im again. You wanna take a shot at me so were all squared 'way? Fine, take a shot. Ya don' know what they did ta 'im in there. I aint leavin 'im." It was not a plea, but it was more emotion than he had ever shown before. Glenn looked at Rick for any sign of an answer.

"Rick, let em in." Ricks head snapped up at the sound of Glenns voice in all of this. There was no anger, there was no sound of a threat. Rick looked back at the two on the other side of the fence with walkers quickly approaching behind them.

"We have rules." Rick declared, undoing the locks they had rigged on the gate when they had had their first full day of exploring the prison. Glenn let out a long sigh, and helped him make fast work of the rest of the locks.

Merle heaved an actual sigh of relief and dragged his baby brother through the safety of the prison fences. Rick approached Daryl's' other side and threw his other arm around his shoulder, helping Merle even his weight out for a quicker journey back to the cell blocks.

"Glenn, get Hershel ready. Tell him he's in bad shape." With that Glenn sprinted off across the prison yard to alert the vet to Daryl's condition.

The two men grunted with their burden as they made their way after Glenn at a much slower pace.

"We have rules." Rick puffed again. "You wanna stay, you don't make trouble of any kind. What we say goes." The ex-sheriff stated matter of factly. "We have an agreement?"

"'slong as it don't kill me or my brother Ill stay outta yall's way." Reaching the cell block door, both men maneuvered Daryl in as gently as possible, trying not to aggravate his seemingly multiple injuries anymore.

"Is he conscious?" They heard the vets voice before they saw him hobble out of one of the bottom floor cells.

"Nah, hasn' been for a while." Merle declared.

"Lets get him in here then." Rick released Daryl's side as Merle managed to get him on the bed without jostling him around too much.

Stepping around Merle quickly, Hershel set to checking all of Daryl's vitals while dishing out commands to Carol every few second.

"What the hell is he doing here!?" Someone screamed from just outside the cell. Turning his head, Merle could see a heated argument taking place between that asian kid and his woman whose name he couldn't remember at the moment.

"Ill handle this." With that Officer Friendly walked out and over to the couple talking to them in a hushed voice. Merle snorted, he knew he wasn't going to be welcome here, but as long as his brother needed help, that chick would have to get over herself because he wasn't going anywhere.

"His breathing is compromised, Im going to have to alleviate some of the pressure on his lungs." The vet told the short, white haired woman who was kneeling at his side.

" What does that mean?" She asked, dabbing at some of the shallow cuts across Daryls chest, trying to clean him as best she could without making anything worse than it already was.

"Im gonna have to insert a needle into the lung thats been compromised and remove the excess air." The vet began to riffle through his medical bag with Merle looking on warily.

"That gon' hurt 'im?" He asked, looking down at his brother who was clearly having a hard time breathing.

"It'll hurt him a lot more in the long run if we dont do this now." Before Hershel could begin to direct Carol on what to do Daryl suddenly took a large, painful gulp of air and started thrashing about the bed in pain.

"Whats happenin" Merle yelled over the vet, trying to get to his brother.

"He's having a hard time getting enough oxygen into his lungs. Its sending his body into shock! Carol, hold his legs, we need to do this now!" The vet exclaimed, placing the needle end of a very large syringe against his brothers back, Merle could only look on as the two worked to save his brothers life.

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**I KNOW...TO BE CONTINUED! ANY WHO, LEAVE ME A COMMENT ON WHAT YALL THINK SO FAR!**


	3. Ill Stay Quiet

**GREETINGS PEOPLE! SO I FINALLY GOT THIS UPLOADED! DONT BLAME ME, WHEN I WENT TO PUT THIS STORY UP, THE PAGE WOULD STOP LOADING MID-WAY THROUGH :/ BUT ITS HERE NOW! SO AS USUAL, PLEASE LEAVE YOUR FEEDBACK JUST SO I KNOW IF WHAT I AM WRITING IS EVEN GOOD :)**

**ENJOY!**

_FLASHBACK_

_"Ill ask you one more time Daryl. How many ways are there to get into that prison?" The Governor stood over a bloodied Daryl who was bound to a chair. Daryl's eyes, for as much blood as he had on his face from various wounds, flared in anger at the man who stood towering over him. He would not give the man the satisfaction of seeing his pain._

_"Daryl, __**sigh**__, do you really think I enjoy hurting you? Enjoy cutting into your skin?" The Governor leaned down so he was eye level with Daryl. "I'll make you a deal. Contrary to what you may have heard, I am not an unreasonable man. If you give me what I want, Michonne, and the prison, Ill let you take your people, no harm done. Now doesn't that sound like I am trying to work with you?"_

_For all he could, Daryl tried not to bark out a laugh at The Governors proposal. He knew as sure as he knew his name, as sure as he knew this world was full of shit people now, that his group had killed some of The Governors men, and that crime would not be forgotten so easily. He also knew his group would not leave their "home" without some sort of fight._

_"Fine."_

_The Governor spun around on his heel where he had walked away to the far wall to let his offer sink in. Once again, he bowed down to Daryl's level. "You're doing a good thing Daryl. I know it may seem like a betrayal, but you'll go back and get your people, and be on your way. Now, back entrances that aren't patrolled by anyone, where are they?"_

_Daryl couched, some blood running from his mouth. With once last hesitation, he leaned closer, "At the west tower. __**Cough**__ turn left." He let his chin fall down to his chest before he sighed and continued on. "You'll be at a brick wall. From there, ya can go straight ta hell." Daryl spit some blood that had been in his mouth straight into The Governors face._

_The room grew silent and still as The Governor straightened himself in front of Daryl._

_"Start again." The Governor started to the door, not turning back as the room exploded in a stream of curses, and yells. He would break that man if it was the last thing he did._

_END FLASHBACK_

"His breathing is better under control, but without an x-ray we cant know the extent of the damage to his lungs. I can almost certainly tell you he has a least 3 broken ribs, a broken wrist, multiple cuts and extensive bruising all over his body. It's a wonder that he is still with us. I wouldn't be surprised if he was also suffering from a severe concussion due to his facial wounds." The old man riddled off Daryl's list of injuries with eyes never leaving Daryl's still form. It was clear the amount of suffering the hunter had gone through, and was still going through plagued him.

"'ow long till he wakes up?" Merle asked at the foot of the jail cell bunk bed. Throughout Hershel poking and prodding his brother this way and that, Merle had stayed firm and solid to that spot, out of the way, but close enough to Daryl should he need to be there. He gave the old man credit, he got Daryl's breathing under control in a hurry, and made quick work of trying to mend other things.

"Hard to say. How long has he been under these conditions?" The vet got up from his chair next to the bed, and made to grab his crutches that were propped against the edge of the bed in front of Merle.

"Wasn' always with 'im." Merle looked down. For an instant he felt a pang of guilt, but quickly told himself that even if they had been in the same room, The Governor was done with him, he wouldn't listen to a word he had to say. No amount of promise at deviatory acts would keep his hands off Daryl. He also knew that his baby brother had a mouth on him when you got him going, and he could attest that at least half those injuries were probably due to that.

"Well in any case, his body needs time. He cant have any more stress put on any of these wounds." With that, Hershel started out of the cell, leaving Merle to stare at the unconscious man. That was when Merle first took notice of the pixie haired woman who was still by Daryl's side.

"He ain' gonna 'preciate all that fussin when he wakes up." She never looked up from where she dabbed at a few shallow cuts, trying to get them clean and away from possible infection.

"We'll get to that fight when he wakes up. Besides, he'll know its for his own good." Her response wasn't loud, but soft and cold to him as to be expected. He knew this attitude was to be expected from everyone in the prison group. Looking back at his brother's featureless face, he sighed. As long as no one tried to get brave with him, he would stay out of site and mind.

Merle watched Carol, eyes never leaving what she was doing in case his brother needed him for some reason.

"You can go find another cell. Your brother is gonna need his rest." Carol mused, eyes never leaving her work. She felt uneasy around the burly redneck, just watching her while she tried to clean Daryl's wounds.

"'m takin the top bunk. No intentions of leaving 'im anytime soon." This was all Merle said as he continued to watch her. He didn't understand everyone trying to get him to leave his baby brother. He did that one to many times, and it was always Daryl who suffered, and he'd be damned if he left him alone again when he was so hurt.

"Ill check on him in a while." Carol stood suddenly, nerves on edge from his eyes. She just needed to get some air away from the man who she would now have no chance of avoiding if he was going to be sleeping in Daryl's cell.

"We'll be 'ere sweets." Merle climbed up on the top bunk as careful as possible so as to not disturb his brother.

Carol huffed at the entrance of the cell causing Merle to chuckle to himself. If they continued to make it this easy, staying here might not be so bad, he thought as he let the prison sounds, and Daryl's breathing lull him to sleep.


	4. I Cant Imagine

**HI EVERYBODY...IIIIIMMM BBBBAAAAAAAACCCCCKKKKK! ITS BEEN A LONG FEW MONTHS BUT I HAVE RETURNED WITH MORE WORDS OF ANGST AND DRAMA!**

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Intense pain flaring up in his chest was the first thing Daryl felt as he began to come around from unconsciousness. He felt like he had gone a few rounds with a Mack truck and was on the losing side of that battle. Everything hurt, even thinking of moving made a pain in his side angry.

Daryl moaned out his agony, only seeming to make the tightness in his chest constrict all the more.

"Stay still baby bro, don' wanna go pullin nothing important out now do ya?" It was a far off voice in Daryls head, one he was pretty sure he was hallucinating for all it was worth. Trying to find a steady rhythm to breathe in that wouldn't make him see black spots behind his already blackened closed eyes, Daryl was not prepared for the hand he felt on his face.

Without thinking of the consequences, Daryl immediately flew to the other side of his bunk, back pressed against the wall, chest heaving in and out in an unsteady rhythm while his eyes were darting from side to side at his intruder.

"Hey now, calm down, jus me." Merle stooped in front of Darlys bunk, hands outstretched in a friendly 'I mean you no harm' manner. He hadn't expected that reaction from the smaller man as he had just been full blown unconscious a few minutes before. "Daryl? Whats wrong?" There was a look in his baby brothers eyes that Merle couldn't quite place, and that was more off putting than the way his brother couldn't seem to get his breathing under control.

_"Daryl? Whats wrong?" _Daryl couldn't quite get a grip for these words as his eyes darted around the room, seeing everything but not really taking anything in enough to understand. His panic level began to rise, feeling a sense of fight or flight bubbling in his stomach.

Merle came closer to Daryls still retreated form pressed tightly against the back wall.

"Dare?" That seemed to snap Daryls attention away from the cell entrance and to the large form in front of him, but for as much as he tried, Daryl let out a strangled sound in the back of his throat before Merle realized he was flat on his ass, and his baby brother was trying to make a break for the cell entrance.

"RICK! FUCKIN' SOMEONE! HELP!" Before even making it out of the door, Daryl was on the ground clutching his chest and in more pain than he thought he had ever been in before. Curled in on himself, he didn't notice more sets of feet appear before him. Distantly he could hear talking but again, he could not determine if it was real or all in his head.

"_What happened?"_

_"He jus' freaked!"_

_"HERSHEL!"_

_"Get him off the floor before he hurts himself further."_

Hands were suddenly on him, and that set his alarms off once more. Kicking and trying to fight off the assaulting hands that only wanted to cut into him more, Daryl prided in the fact that he would at least go down swinging.

"_Hold him down!"_

He refused to be restrained so helpless again. He couldn't let the bastards win, not as long as he still had breath in his body. However, soon enough, his struggles became sluggish, simply pushing hands away from them when he could make contact.

When Daryl was finally back on his bunk and subdued, Rick turned to Merle, a wild look in his eyes.

"What the hell was that?!" The ex-sheriff screamed at their newest occupant. He walked right up to Merles personal space, not backing down from the height difference. Merle may be Daryls brother by blood, but that was his apocalyptic brother there laying hurt, and he would be damned if he let anyone hurt him again.

"I tol' you, he was fine one minute, and when I touched him he tried to get as far way as possible!" Merle never cowered, especially from the long arm of the law.

"Hes ripped out some of his stitches. Carol, get me more bandages, and as many clean towels as you can scrounge up. No doubt Ill have to reset this wrist as well." Hershel called from Daryls side, sending the petite woman out of the cell on onto her tasks. The two men looked over at the vet and watched him as he rechecked all of their hunters previous wounds.

Now taking shallow breaths, Daryl was a sickly gray color, sweat dripping off his forehead.

"What could have caused something like that?" Rick asked, coming to stand behind Hershel, and hand him small items he asked for until Carols return.

"Hard to say. My guess though? He's been through a great trauma, theres no telling how much of his escape that he remembers. For all we know, he still thinks hes in Woodbury. Did he say anything before he tried to escape?" Hershel turned to Merle, trying to drag out any information for a proper diagnosis.

"Nah, was jus spacey like he use ta get when Id leave 'im for few days. Come back an' he wouldn' focus on nothin." Merle leaned back in between the foot of the bunks and the cell entrance ready to intervene if necessary.

"Thats a common symptom with post traumatic stress victims. If severe enough, some victims wont even see their current surroundings but rather be pushed back into those traumatic events. We cant even begin to imagine everything The Governor did to him." Carol walked in just then, fresh towels and bandages at the ready. The vet looked at the usually strong hunter with a sad grimace on his face. Not only would he have a long road of physical recovery, but now they had to make sure to tread lightly on his emotional status as well.

Needing no other help, Hershel ushered the others out of the cell so he could reexamine his patient and fix him up again.

Silently, Rick and Merle walked downstairs to the makeshift kitchen area they had and sat at one of the prison tables. It was at least 10 minutes of both lost in their own thoughts before either one of them spoke.

"How worried do we need to be of The Governor?" Rick asked suddenly, sounding very tired.

"If Dare were up to it, Id be tellin yall to run your sorry asses outta here as fast as ya can." Merle didn't even look up as he spoke. He spent a good while with The Governor and his people to know that when he wanted something, he would take it anyway necessary without any lingering thoughts.

"How soon?"

"Id give 'im a few more days 'fore he makes any move. He'll build up tha numbers first."

"Then we only have a few days before we go to war." Rick looked out the window at the blue sky outside. How many more wars did they have left in them?

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**THERE YOU HAVE IT! PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW YOU LIKE THIS CHAPTER AND IF THERE IS A SPECIFIC DIRECTION YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE THIS STORY GO IN. THIS IS RUN PURELY ON YALLS KIND WORDS AND SUGGESTIONS! I DO TAKE THEM TO HEART! TIL WE MEET AGIAN LOVELIES!**


	5. QUICK UPDATE

HI EVERYBODY!

OK SO THIS WILL JUST BE A QUICK UPDATE, WHICH WILL BE DELETED AS SOON AS I GET A NEW CHAPTER UP.

THIS SEMESTER FOR SCHOOL IS WINDING DOWN IN THE NEXT WEEK OR SO, AND THE HOURS AT MY STORE ARE GOING TO BE BASICALLY 2 DAYS OR SO A WEEK, SO THAT WILL LEAVE PLENTY OF TIME FOR WRITING.

I HATE TO SAY IT THOUGH, I HAVE HIT A BIT OF A BLOCK IN THIS STORY. I AM NOT SURE WHICH DIRECTION I WANT THIS TO GO IN YET, AS IN I DONT HAVE A CLEAR DEFINED ENDING. I DO NOT HAVE ANY RELATIONSHIP GOALS AT THE SPECIFIC MOMENT, HOWEVER I WOULD NOT RULE ANY OUT SHOULD THEY JUST NATURALLY HAPPEN.

I WOULD LOVE TO READ ANY AND ALL FEEDBACK ON LITTLE TID BITS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE, OR JUST GENERAL MUSING THOUGHTS THAT CAN HELP GET MY CREATIVITY FLOWING AGAIN. THEY DONT EVEN HAVE TO BE FULL FLEDGED THOUGHTS. SOMEONE MESSAGED ME, "DARYL DOESNT LIKE PANCAKES". NOW I THINK THATS KIND OF NUTTY, HOWEVER, IT DID GET MY JUICES GOING ABOUT FLASHBACKS, SO HAVE AT IT!

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE KIND WORDS, AND PLEASE KNOW I, JUST AS MUCH AS YOU, HATE ABANDONED STORIES. HOWEVER, I DO HAVE A LIFE AI HAVE TO KEEP UP WITH OUTSIDE OF THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE SO I HOPE EVERYONE CAN UNDERSTAND!

THANK YOU GUYS!


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